About the Instructors | Testimonials
Lilli Ann Carey
Lilli Ann began partner dancing with Living Traditions, where the draw of instruction, music, dance and community made her a complete convert. She loves to dance almost anything, but focuses her teaching on Waltz, Swing variations, Zydeco, Polka, Foxtrot, One-step/Blues and a few vintage dance forms. Lilli Ann promotes dance through classes, workshops and events through her company, Dance For Joy!, including the now annual Evening in Vienna Ball and a new Ragtime Ball in February. You will find her teaching several nights a week, dividing her time between Seattle and Portland. She has also taught workshops in the DC area and Atlanta and is a frequent instructor for Friday Night Waltz in San Francisco. Her spontaneous sense of humor, dynamic energy and right-on observations lead to a playful and effective learning environment. Lilli Ann lives in Seattle with her daughter, Claire, now 16, who has danced since the age of 7, and their mini-dachshund, Izzy. Sadly, Izzy has resisted any form of dance except for when he's expecting treats, where his 4-step pattern is legendary.
David Wilbur
From an early age, David had a strong aversion to dance, brought on by formal ballroom dance lessons at the age of 12. (It wasn't a happy summer) Not until his late 40s, when he got tricked into going to a pre-dance workshop with Living Traditions at the Leif Erikson Ballroom, did David REALLY discover dance. Well, the workshop was so much fun, he signed up that night for a Swing class. After a good deal of struggle figuring out the difference between the left and right foot, he began to get more and more excited about partner dancing. The fear of not being competent, which had been the main reason to avoid dance, was soon replaced by just plain fun. He now loves not only Swing, but Waltz, Salsa, Cha Cha, Blues, Foxtrot and Zydeco. Now his passion for dance has lead him to adapt moves from different styles, while retaining the flavor of the music at the moment to create his own distinct style. Mostly though, he concentrates on just having just fun! That's what dancing is really all about.
Jamie Shamseldin
Jamie began dancing at Stanford University in 1997, and partner dancing soon became her favorite pastime. She took social dance classes, went out dancing almost every night, and joined the Stanford Vintage Dance Ensemble, a dance performance group that performed social dances from the Victorian to the Ragtime and Swing eras. She claims she would not have met the credit requirements for graduation without all the dance class credits. Throughout college and the years following, she continued to dance regularly and performed with the Viennese Ball Opening Committee and Danse Libre. She performed Waltz, Polka, Mazurka, Maxixe, One-step, Two-step, Quickstep, Foxtrot, and Lindy Hop, among others. In 2006, Jamie moved back home to Seattle to be closer to family and continued social dancing. Her favorite dances are currently Lindy Hop, Blues, and Waltz. She has recently had the wonderful opportunity to teach dance with Lilli Ann and has learned yet another way to have fun dancing.
Winfield Hobbs
Winfield Hobbs has been partner dancing since 1987. He has been dancing swing since 1989, performing Lindy Hop style of swing since 1993 and teaching since 1995. He is a founding member of Seattle’s Savoy Swing Club. He has taught over 130 five and six week class series in swing and related dances. His extensive knowledge of a variety of dances makes him a master of fusion dancing. He has been dancing Tango since 1990, studying with instructors from all over the world. He spent 10 days with the top milongueros in Buenos Aires and another week at Stanford. He has taught from one hour to weeklong workshops in Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Pasco, Moscow, Id, Mendocino CA, Corvallis, OR, New York City and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Passion and humor share the stage with knowledge when Win teaches.
Guy Caridi and Nancy Fry
Guy and Nancy have over 36 years combined dance experience and
have been dancing as a couple for over thirteen years. They are
founding members of Seattle's Savoy Swing Club and are the first couple
from the Pacific Northwest to teach Lindy Hop and Balboa. They have
taught and performed internationally and are well known for their
respectful, sensitive and humorous teaching style. Guy has been
artistic director of the club's
performance troupe for over twelve years. In 1999, Guy & Nancy
took home trophies in the Lindy Hop and Team divisions at the U.S. Open
Swing Dance Championships in southern California. In total, four of
five routines choreographed by Guy were place-winners.
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"Dear Lilliann and David, "Lilli Ann has been one of Portland Waltz Eclectic's favorite instructors since we began the organization six years ago. We are a group that focuses on waltz but integrates many other styles of social dance. Lilli Ann has an unusually ability to teach effectively several styles of dance from both sides of her brain addressing students' diverse learning styles, bringing excellent clarity in breaking down moves and adding dance skills and philosophy in a way that is positive, inspirational and fun. She uses creative ways to address those who must hear the instructions and those who must feel the steps. Her teaching style keeps both the individual and the class moving successfully. Since we invited her to teach regular classes here, we have found that her students in our group have advanced our group's overall skill level and the love of eclectic style dancing." "You are a remarkably lucid and fun teacher! I'll do whatever I can to clear my schedule for your classes." The Latin Waltz workshop you taught at the Atlanta Waltz Society was superb. You had such a strong command of the material that you were able to adjust to the ability of the dancers and modify your program on the fly as needed. And your teaching method made it easy for us to learn the dance quickly; you were able to give a lot of personal attention because you both have the ability to lead or follow so well, and you worked so smoothly together. I want to schedule you both for another workshop as soon as we can.
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